Syria & Sudan Hoping That Greater Social Network Use Will Keep Regimes In Power

from the interesting-reaction dept

With the protests leading to political change in Tunisia and Egypt getting so much attention (including for the role played by social media as a part of that), there have been questions about what country is "next." So it's interesting to see that the governments in both Syria and Sudan appear to think that social media tools may work more in their favor than against them. Wired reports that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, an indicted war criminal, has announced that he wants to extend computer and internet usage among the youth, in the belief that young, connected people will "combat opposition" to the regime, rather than enhance it.

Whether or not either of these strategies will work for the regimes in charge remains to be seen -- but it's yet another reminder that technology does not inherently favor any particular party, but can be put to use for very different purposes by different groups.

It's interesting to see this. I've been reading a book called The Lacuna which talks about Trotsky vs Stalin back in the 1930s and how Stalin manipulated the population to take control of the Soviet Union. My thinking is that this couldn't happen now, but maybe I'm wrong...

I'd like to think that social media, Twitter and the like, make it harder to pull the wool over people's eyes, but in the end, I guess a state controlled media can still manipulate the stories reaching the masses.

The wind is blowing and the stench is horrible at the top...

It seems that business as usual might not be as easy as it once was in a connected world. Wow!!! politicians might actually need to listen to the population more and the corporations and lobbyist less.

Assuming your metric of social success for a nation is the satisfaction of the populace, anything that empowers that populace must necessarily benefit the nation - whether it brings down a regime or sustains one, whatever happens is more likely to be a reflection of the will of the people.